Article Critique Sample Paper

Critiquing a research article permits healthcare providers to gather the necessary evidence-based knowledge to utilize in clinical practice to improve the general quality of patient care. This comprehensive process necessitates a nurse to carefully go through the article and intensively analyze it. The purpose of this piece of paper is to critically appraise the Effect of Intentional Nursing Rounds Based on the Care Model on Patient’s Perceived Nursing Quality and their Satisfaction with Nursing Services’ report.

Introduction and Identification of the Problem

After extensive review of The Effect of Intentional Nursing Rounds Based on the Care Model on Patient’s Perceived Nursing Quality and their Satisfaction with Nursing Services’ report, the report was well written with minimal grammatical errors. The well-structured introductory section attains the attention of the reader or rather makes the subject area interesting. It further explains the key concepts of the research and the background of the study (Cathala & Moorley, 2018).

The introduction further elaborates on the details mentioned in the abstract and what to foresee in the manuscript. The purpose of this study is well outlined. For instance, this study examined the effects of intentional nursing rounds based on the care model on patients’ perceived nursing quality and their satisfaction with nursing services (Shin & Park, 2018). This problem statement purposefully introduces and orients the reader to the significance of the topic under study.

Aside from the purpose of the study, the researchers in this report also highlight two alternative hypotheses that were subjected to validation. The first hypothesis stated that the interventional group under intentional nursing rounds would demonstrate a significant level of perceived nursing quality when compared to the control group without rounding services (Shin & Park, 2018). Secondly, the interventional cohort under intentional nursing rounds would demonstrate a higher level of satisfaction with nursing services than the control group without rounding service (Shin & Park, 2018). The roles of hypotheses in research are overwhelming.

They describe the exploration in concrete terms, provide the backbone of evidence to ascertain the validity of research as well as assisting in data analysis to assess the reliability and validity of the study (Vance et al., 2013). Likewise, hypotheses emphasize the validity and scientific attribute of research methodologies by linking the underlying theoretical basis and the specific research problem in addition to furnishing the researchers with distinct clarifications and restatements of the research problem.

Literature Review Analysis

The logical flow of any research must include the literature review part. A literature review serves multiple functions. To begin, it is ordinarily the initial step of clarifying the intention of any research. This part further facilitates the development of clear comprehension of the research topic by both the researchers and the readers (Cathala & Moorley, 2018). Additionally, discerning existing conceptual framework approaches to the study topic and refining the research topic can only be practical via the literature review. Lastly, the literature review mitigates the burden of readers unfamiliar with the topic experience striving to understand the rationale of the study.

Consequently, this section of the research must be well written to fulfill its purpose. Looking at the literature review section of this study, several key deductions can be outlined. Firstly, the articles referenced in this article are not current since principally most of them are older than five years probably due to the time the study was conducted. Nevertheless, most of the references used are peer-reviewed journal articles that are relevant to the topic under investigation. The articles summarize what is already known about the research topic and highlight the available gaps such as few pieces of research on intentional rounding reported in the literature in Korea as well as the need to view patients’ satisfaction from the patients’ angle (Shin & Park, 2018). Finally, the report’s literature review outlines the critical contribution to new knowledge that this study will add. For instance, the study will emphasize intentional rounds that would draw patient-oriented nursing care with the identification of the patients’ needs.

Participants, Sampling Issues, and Study Setting Analysis

Participants utilized in the study were patients from two general surgical wards in a large metropolitan teaching hospital in Korea. To qualify as a participant, one had to understand the survey questions without any difficulty in communication. Similarly, the participant had to be an adult Korean-speaking patient admitted to the surgical unit. However, the exclusion criteria included those patients transferred during research duration, those who were discharged as well as those who lost their lives during the research period (Shin & Park, 2018). The sampling was non-probability sampling as it followed the admission register. Ratelle et al. (2019) describe this type of sampling as non-random as not all members of the population have an equal chance of being selected as participants. This type of sampling is mostly utilized by researchers where it is difficult to procure a random sample due to time and cost considerations. The sample is therefore not a true representation of the general population.

Out of the 155 participants assessed for eligibility, 152 were recruited. Initially, there was an equivalent allocation of participants across the experimental and the control group. Subsequently, six from the experimental group discontinued intervention while one from the control group discontinued the intervention leaving a total analyzable sample of 145. The study setting where data collection took place was in two orthopedic wards of a metropolitan teaching hospital in Korea. Data from this setting was collected at different times. The data for the control group that was under conventional rounding was collected from subjects admitted between November 1, 2015, and March 25, 2016. The data from the experimental group under intentional nursing was collected from subjects admitted between April 1, 2016, and October 25, 2016.

Ethical Considerations

Ethical issues in medical explorations involving human subjects have been in existence since taking roots in 1964 through the Declaration of Helsinki issued by the World Medical Association. This particular declaration outlined two fundamental ethical issues; informed consent and ethical approval (Wu et al., 2019). Informed consent is an interactive process by which the researchers educate the participants about the research, benefits, and risks of the study before asking the participants to voluntarily and willingly consent to the study. On the other hand, ethical approval out to be done by the ethics approval committee after a detailed and careful viewing of the appropriateness of the study design (Wu et al., 2019). Besides, it is stipulated that all research articles involving human subjects should essentially submit their report on ethical approval and informed consent prior to their publication.

Following an in-depth review of the research. It is crystal clear that the researchers of the article abided by the elements of ethical considerations in research. For instance, the study was undertaken after receiving approval from the Institutional Review Board of Bundang CHA Hospital (Approval No. 2015-11-198-002). In addition, all participants signed a written consent form after being enlightened about study goals, data collection, and confidentiality of the procedures as well as the freedom to walk out of the research process (Shin & Park, 2018). Subsequently, the rights of the participants were safeguarded in this exploration.

Research Design, variables, and Methodology Analysis

Study design refers to the methodology utilized to investigate the research problem in question (Ratelle et al., 2019). Study variables on the other hand refer to a person, thing, place, or phenomenon that the research attempts to measure (Ratelle et al., 2019). The two types of variables greatly deployed in research are dependent and independent variables. The dependent variable just as the name suggests is contemplated to change on manipulation of the independent variable. It is the presumed effect (Ratelle et al., 2019). Meanwhile, the independent variable is the presumed cause and is the stable variable that the investigators navigate.

With that background in mind, in-depth scanning of this article reveals an experimental research design. This quasi-experimental included a non-equivalent and non-synchronized control group. According to Ratelle et al. (2019), quasi-experimental study designs feature both control and intervention groups but do not provide for random assignment of the treatment group. Similarly, in this research, the control and treatment groups were assigned according to the admission register. A quasi-experimental design is best suitable when a cause-effect relationship is desired to be established with a feasible introduction of experimental stimuli but randomization is impractical or unethical.

The dependent variables in this study were patient’s perceived quality of nursing and patient’s satisfaction with nursing services. According to Shin and Park (2018), these variables referred to how patients felt about the nursing care they received and the degree of subjectively perceived satisfaction between patients’ expectation of nursing service and actual service provided respectively. Nonetheless, the independent variables were the conventional nursing rounds and intentional nursing rounds given to the control and treatment groups respectively.

Data Analysis and Results

Data analysis entailed an initial identification of homogeneity of participants’ baseline variables and characteristics between control and experimental groups using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Fisher’s exact test, and independent T-test. This was followed by the assessment of the impact of intentional rounding utilizing the difference-in-indifference method to analyze alterations in patients’ perceived nursing quality and their satisfaction with nursing service. Finally, the mean and the standard deviation of the intervention group were used as measures of the effect size of this study.

The results of this study supported both hypotheses. For instance, in testing the first hypothesis, it was discovered that the experimental group’s perceived nursing quality level was 0.85 points higher than that of the control group (p =.041) while in the second, it revealed that the level of satisfaction with nursing services from the experimental group was 8.28 points higher than that of the control group (p < .001). In terms of the hierarchy of evidence, this study is at level III (Drisko & Grady, 2019). The nursing theory used in this study is Swanson’s caring model.

The Swanson theory of caring is based on the five fundamental principles including maintaining belief, knowing, being with, doing for, and empowering (Shin & Park, 2018). The study limitations for this study included lack of representation of the patients’ perceived nursing quality and their satisfaction of general patients and at the general level because the study was conducted for patients at a metropolitan teaching hospital to ensure homogeneity. Similarly, the effect of intentional rounding cannot be fully generalized in the clinical setting since the study was conducted in only two surgical units.

Implications for Nursing Practice

As the nursing practice shifts focus to patient-centered care, patients’ experiences become key. The findings of this result influence the nursing practice by advocating for the establishment of intentional rounding to replace conventional rounding. According to this study, this structured nursing system looks after patients at fixed time intervals to assess and manage patients’ basic needs. The nurses are always available to be with and take care of their patients. Subsequently, this type of nursing is perceived as high quality with increased levels of patients satisfaction. It is therefore imperative that nurse leaders should try to adopt such kind of nursing care.

Arguably, this type of care requires manpower in terms of the nursing staff to be available at patients’ disposal. Nurse leaders in their policy making, should advocate for enough staff in healthcare facilities to spearhead the shifting of nursing care from conventional rounding to intentional rounds. Shin and Park (2018) further outline that the findings of their research should form the backbone for further research to systematically improve future nursing practice to eventually increase patients’ safety, nursing needs, nurses’ performance ability, and communication ability, as well as patients’ satisfaction.

Conclusion

Appraising a research article is an elemental skill that all nurses should have to guide their clinical practice. Likewise, nurses should synthesize evidence-based knowledge as well as areas that require future research to help shape and shift the future nursing practice to align with the ever-growing and dynamic healthcare needs.

References

Cathala, X., & Moorley, C. (2018). How to appraise quantitative research. Evidence-Based Nursing, 21(4), 99–101. https://doi.org/10.1136/eb-2018-102996
Drisko, J. W., & Grady, M. D. (2019). Step 3 of EBP: Part 1—evaluating research designs. In Essential Clinical Social Work Series (pp. 107–122). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15224-6_6
Ratelle, J. T., Sawatsky, A. P., & Beckman, T. J. (2019). Quantitative research methods in medical education. Anesthesiology, 131(1), 23–35. https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000002727
Shin, N., & Park, J. (2018). The effect of intentional nursing rounds based on the care model on patients’ perceived nursing quality and their satisfaction with nursing services. Asian Nursing Research, 12(3), 203–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anr.2018.08.003
Wu, Y., Howarth, M., Zhou, C., Hu, M., & Cong, W. (2019). Reporting of ethical approval and informed consent in clinical research published in leading nursing journals: a retrospective observational study. BMC Medical Ethics, 20(1), 94. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-019-0431-5